A Moment's Contemplation
by FlawedVictori
Summary: Pyrrha had to wonder, sometimes, if Ruby viewed her more as a best friend than a girlfriend. Kind of an introspective piece from Pyrrha's POV, done by commission.


**_A/N: Quick Pyrruby ficlet done by commission. If you like my writing, you can arrange for your own commission by emailing Whatfield4 at Gmail. Or, you could back my , which would allow me to justify spending more time writing. Every little bit helps, after all._**

There was a fine line, Pyrrha knew, between a close friendship and a relationship.

And one of the most worrisome things was when you had to wonder if you'd crossed it at all.

/

They were leaving Dust Theory 101, Weiss and Pyrrha readying themselves for Advanced Lit, while the rest of their little 'group' headed to the standard version of the course.

Weiss, after a quick argument that seemed more affectionate than anything, received a kiss each from Blake and Yang.

Pyrrha turned to look at her girlfriend, not quite expecting a kiss but easily hoping for one... but she was denied.

Ruby wrapped her in a tight hug though, and she had a moment to bask in the affection before the smaller girl pulled away.. and wrapped Weiss into a nearly identical hug, despite the heiress' halfhearted shoves and muttered insults.

Pyrrha sighed inwardly.

This was the biggest part of her problem with their 'relationship.'

Ruby treated her _exactly_ like one of her friends, when she felt, and Ruby had said, that she was _more_. She was _supposed_ to be Ruby's girlfriend, and yet, she never treated her any differently than when they were just friends. They'd never kissed, she never caught the younger girl's eyes wandering, and out of the sisters, she's fairly sure Yang's made more passes at her than Ruby has.

Though, to be fair, neither Yang nor anyone else had ever offered Pyrrha what Ruby did...

Ruby was, in many respects, a fantastic girlfriend, and certainly the best paramour Pyrrha had ever had. Ruby respected her as a person, not as a Fighter or a Huntress or a Champion.

She wasn't Pyrrha 'The Invincible Girl' Nikos, she was just Pyrrha, her girlfriend.

Ruby wasn't afraid to disagree with her, or to argue. Ruby wouldn't just accept whatever movie Pyrrha chose, she'd try to talk her into seeing a different one, every time. (Unless she _also_ decided to see an uninspired action movie, in which case Ruby was all for it.) Ruby would listen to her complain about her day without complaint and with that ever-attentive grin on her face, but she would be the first to point it out if Pyrrha was in the wrong.

While Ruby clearly loved to listen, she'd also gladly tell Pyrrha the intimate details of every individual swing of Crescent Rose that day, or what exactly Yang had done to irritate Weiss at lunch, or just talk about how her day went. Which, somehow, didn't involve any of the previous topics.

Ruby made her feel like just another girl, and she loved that.

Well, even that wasn't _quite_ right...Ruby made her feel like her girlfriend, but nothing beyond that. She didn't treat her like a queen, but she didn't just treat her like another girl, either. It felt nice... but how Ruby treated her wasn't the real issue.

She felt _loved_ , but she didn't feel _wanted_.

She knew _she_ wanted _Ruby_... maybe not sexually, yet, but she wanted her to do more than a hug or the occasional hand-holding. She wanted Ruby to kiss her, to cuddle, to do anything to show her that she really did know the difference between being friends and being girlfriends.

She decided to bring it up with Ruby later that day... she didn't want to pressure the younger girl into anything physical, or bring her out of her comfort zone... but maybe Ruby had also been waiting for her to make the first move?

Anything was possible, after all...

/

She had her chance at lunch. The others were all distracted, listening to Nora's latest story of heroism.

This one involved pirates, apparently, and a frantic chase to the ends of the world to recover lost souls?

Pyrrha shook her head. These stories just kept getting weirder.

Anyway...

She turned her attention to Ruby, who was listening raptly, her eyes wide and her fork forgotten, laying morosely on her tray with the remains of her lunch.

Her mouth was hanging slightly open, and every so often it'd half form a word, as if to interject into Nora's story, but she never vocalized anything.

So, all in all, Ruby wasn't exactly the pinnacle of feminine beauty at the moment... and yet, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel her heart warm at the sight.

That innocent, yearning face, eager to catch each and every detail... the way she was leaning forward slightly, as if she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hear the small ginger's words... her leg, having completely ceased it's usual bouncing in that way that she only ever did when she was paying the utmost attention to something...

Pyrrha smiled to herself, and sighed.

This was the girl she'd fallen in love with.

The excitable, overenthusiastic weapons nerd with an unhealthy attachment to her sniper scythe, who could only be counted on to stay quiet when she was listening... but she was definitely an attentive listener when she was.

Did it really matter how Ruby thought of her?

After all, they did call each other girlfriends, and go on dates... and she really did like it when Ruby looked at her like that... and that she _listened_ , and actually seemed to look past her status, to see the girl underneath...

Honestly, what was a kiss, or even a thousand, when compared to having someone who cared about you that much?

She couldn't believe she'd almost riske-

Ruby's eyes focused on her, the smaller girl's hand suddenly on hers.

Ruby's eyes were wide, and she was visibly concerned. Her thumb slowly stroked at Pyrrha's palm, rubbing the callous there.

"Pyrrha? Everything alright?"

She blinked, then grinned. "Everything's fine, Ruby. Don't worry.'

Ruby grinned back. "Alright, cool. Love you."

She turned to listen to Nora again, though the thumb rubbing at her palm didn't stop.

Pyrrha's smile softened, and the familiar warmth enveloped her heart once again. "I love you too." She whispered, squeezing Ruby's hand slightly and turning to listen to Nora with the rest of the group.


End file.
